Meet the Senators Who Voted Against the U.S.'s 'Full Faith and Credit'

Thirty-four put the country in harm's way. Only one is a Democrat.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- The U.S. Senate voted Thursday afternoon to extend the limit of debt that the government can incur until May 19, when it must vote again whether to raise the ceiling.

The measure, which had already passed the House, won by a 64-34 margin, with two senators abstaining.

Simply put, there were 34 senators -- 33 of them Republicans -- who did not agree that temporarily extending the debt limit was the best choice at this time. The decision not to delay a longer-term agreement on the amount of debt the government can accrue likely would have forced Congress to act swiftly to avoid a potential default, or allow for the country to hit the debt limit and struggle to pay its bills.

A potential default could have put investors at risk as it likely would have sent markets into turmoil.